Now that the new demo has been kicked off in full-force, I’ve been marketing HARD. LinkeIN has been a primary source of connection. I’ve also been direct marketing via some other resources I have…to agents, production houses of various sorts, content creators…and the effort is paying off. If I’m recording, well, that is where the money is earned, but if it’s rather slow with work or auditions, then I fill that time MARKETING! There is really no such thing as free time. There are more people to market to in the world that I’ll ever be able to reach in a lifetime, so there is seemingly a limitless supply of leads to reach out to each day. There should NEVER be a moment when there is nothing for me to do.
One thing is for sure, you need multiple streams of revenue. What I mean by that is clients coming in via differenct channels: direct marketing, Pay2Plays…whatever sources you can find. The industry is changing so rapidly these days, you never know if one particular stream will run dry. Nowadays, a lot of the production houses are going to the P2Ps like Voice123.com, Voices.com, or Voquent.com to source their work. You really have to be competitive on these sites due to the sheer number of competitors you have. The most profitable folks in the business today are not doing so with just one revenue stream. Most of them are piling up mulitple streams from various corners of the VO world to make a living. If any one of them goes dry, it could have a significant impact on your revenues, but at least there is security in numbers. Having multiple streams means you can still likely continue to make a good living until you find a way to replace that lost revenue.
All that said, I’ve thrown a LOT of effort now into direct marketing, and also ridding myself of dead-weight P2Ps, or other such online marketplaces. I won’t go into depth here about which ones are great and which to avoid…as that would be a whole other post…but there are definitely some that operate with more integrity than others, and that won’t waste your time.
My marketing approach has been 2-prong: I am doing my own marketing with the resources I have, and I have also now outsourced some marketing. I use the Voice Over Marketing Pros (VOMP). Todd Barsness and his sons (who work with their dad, some also doing VO) do a great job sending out emails each month on my behalf. If they score me a job, I pay them 20% of the revenues, which I’m good with. I’d rather pay them 20% of something than to keep 100% of nothing to myself. To me, their services are worth it, because this business is truly a NUMBERS game, and the more reach you have, the more chances you have to land that next gig! I’ve only been with them for 2 months now, and not much of anything has come of it yet, but that is totally expected. The effects of their marketing are seen over time with consistency, and I’m in this for the long haul, no doubt! I realize that it may be upward of a year or so before I start seeing regular traffic flowing in from them. I have confidence in my abilities and the work that I’m putting in, so if they land people at my doorstep, I know I will seal the deal, and create a new lifelong client!
Between my efforts, combined with theirs, and the work coming in from all the auditions I am nailing on the P2Ps, I know this thing is going to take off soon. My immediate goal is locking up representation now in the Top 10 US VO markets, so I’m gettin’ after it!
2 Responses
Good points about the value of investing money into marketing. Marketing is so huge that it generally requires an entire team to cover all the aspects well, so individuals trying to tackle all of their own marketing needs is precarious. You are a valuable commodity (meaning your brand and your potential revenues) and I am glad you know enough treat yourself as such!
It’s very true! It doesn’t matter if you’re the best in your respective field or not, if you’re not putting word out there to market those services, it will be tough to survive in the business world. For small business owners such as myself, the real skill comes in balancing all the different aspects of the business. Of course,there is the work of recording…but then, marketing, accounts payable/receivable/billing, coaching/training, networking, any type of professional travel (conferences/awards shows, etc.)…there is a ton to do. At some point, it does become necessary to offload some of that, and outsource the work if you want to continue to grow. I’ve already begun that process by hiring on some VO Marketing Pros to extend my reach behind what I’d be able to do on my own. In time, I can see that I’ll need to offload even more than that, though!
Thanks for your insight!